Had it not been for Syria's brutal civil war, the tomb of Suleyman Shah would have likely remained a geographical footnote. But this week the 700-year-old tomb became a flashpoint that helped prod Turkey into entering the battle against the Islamic State (IS; also called ISIS or ISIL).

One of the clauses in the 1921 Treaty of Ankara, which shaped the boundaries of modern Syria, stipulated that the former Ottoman tomb would remain a Turkish exclave within the new Syria, flying the Turkish flag and protected by an honor guard of Turkish soldiers.

In 1973 the Assad regime built a damn which flooded the enclave to create a lake they modestly named Lake Assad. The tomb and sovereign enclave it continues to reside in were moved some 80 km to the north, closer to the Turkish border; this means that it is easier for Turks to invade.

Erdogan, in an official message welcoming Eid al-Adha, also called the Feast of the Sacrifice, referred to the Turkish soldiers defending the tomb, "Without any hesitation, Turkey will use all its potential to defend every inch of its territories."

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